Hoist for crucible-furnaces.



L. H. J. DB BATS.

HOIST FOR GRUGIBLE FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20, 1911.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPN cc., WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS HUBERT JOHN DE BATS, OF ZELIENOPLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTI-I T0 ALFRED G. ZEHNER, ONE-FOURTH TO F. EDWIN ZEHNER, AND ONE-FOURTH TO JACOB C. MILLEMAN, OF ZELIENOPLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

HOIST FOR CRUCIBLE-FURNACES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

Application fi1ed March 20, 1911. Serial No. 615,745.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LoUIs HUBERT JOHN DE BATS, a resident of Zelienople,in the county of Butler and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Hoists for Crucible-Furnaces; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof.

'My invention relates to hoists for furnaces, and has special referenceto that form of furnace in which crucibles are used for containing themolten metal.

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap, simple and efficientmeans for raising a crucible from a furnace, without gripping the samewith tongs and without waiting for the coke to burn from around thesame.

To these ends my'invention consists, generally stated, in the novelarrangement, construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter morespecifically set forth and described and particularly pointed out in theclaims.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains toconstruct and use my improved hoists for crucible furnaces, I willdescribe the same more fully referring to the accompanying drawing, inwhich Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the furnace showing myinvention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the grate employed.Fig. 8 is another form of supporting block used under the crucible.

Like symbols of reference herein indicate like parts in each of thefigures of the draw- 1ng.

As illustrated in the drawing, A represents the ordinary cruciblefurnace whose walls 1 are preferably formed of fire brick, and suchfurnace is usually circular in form and has a hollow center 2 extendingthrough the same.

At the top of the furnace A is the cover 3 which is adapted tocompletely cover the opening 4 of the hollow center 2 and such cover ispivotally mounted in the platform 5 formed at the top of said furnace bythe inclined portion 6 of the walls 1, while within said inclinedportion the ordinary flue a is located.

Below the inclined portion 6 of the furnace A is the fuel chamber 7having the fuel 8 therein, and such fuel rests upon the grates 9, whichare pivotally mounted in the side walls 1 of said furnace by the pivotalprojections 10 at each side of the same, and are supported in theirproper position by means of the supporting rods 11 engaging with thelips 12 on said grates. The grates 9 are provided with the openings 13within the same to provide for the falling of ashes from the fuelchamber 7 and such grates have a semi-circular flange 14: at the innerend of the same, as hereinafter described. The walls 1 of the furnace Aare provided with the recess 15 at each side of the same to permit thegrates 9 to be swung downward by their pivotal projections 10, when notin use, by disengaging the supporting rods 11 from the lips 12 anddropping the same by their pivotal connections 16 which are located inthe recesses 15 of the walls 1 and such rods will drop into their seat-s15 in said walls. Below the grates 9 is the ash pit 17, which is adaptedto receive the ashes of the fuel 8 from the fuel chamber 7, and suchashes can be removed from said pit by the ordinary method.

WVithin the hollow center 2 of the furnace A and located centrally inthe sameis the hoisting apparatus 18 which has the concrete base 19, andsuch base is provided with the recess 20 into which the cylinder 21 fitsso that such cylinder extends substantially through the ash pit 17 andis provided at its upper end with the inclosing plates 22 and 23 andbetween which is located a flexible washer 24, while said plates andcylinder are firmly connected together by any suitable means, such asthe rivets 24. Within the cylinder 21 is the piston or lunger 25, andsuch plunger is provided with the plunger rod 26 extending upward fromthe same and connecting by its threaded end 27 with the threaded hole 27of the cast iron supporting block 28, and such supporting block has thehollow portion 29 at the lower end of the same for admitting the plates22 and 23 when the plunger 25 is at its downward position. Fittingaround the block 28 and extending downward therefrom is the protectingcasing or pipe 30,

which is connected to said block by the screws 31, and such pipe is heldin place by means of the steadying block 32 fitting around the cylinder21,

The supporting block 28 is provided at its upper end with the pin 33,which is adapted to engage with the hole 34 on the graphite block 35 andupon this latter named block'the ordinary graphite cruci ble 36 isadapted to rest. Extending through the wall land opening into the bottomof the cylinder 21 through the concrete base 19 is the compressed airorfluid pipe 37, which has a cock 37 at the upper end of the same forregulating the admission of the air or fluid to such cylinder.

The operation of my improved hoist for crucible furnaces is as follows:The air or fluid is admitted to the cylinder 21 through the pipe 37 andthe plunger 25 is thus raised, so that it carries with it the supportingblock 28 and the pipe 30, and with the cover 3 atthe opening 4 raised touncover said opening. the block 28 is carried to the level of theplatform 5, at which time the graphite block 35 is placed on thesupporting block 28 and held thereon by means of the pin 33, after whichthe crucible 36 is placed upon the block 35 and such crucible is filledwith molten metal. The crucible protector or casing 38 is now placedover the crucible 36 and graphite block 35, and such protector or casingis of ordinary sheet metal, which has the handle 39 thereon for handlingthe same, and is provided with the lips 40 for resting against thecrucible, while such protector is supported by its lower end restingupon the pipe 30. The crucible is now lowered into the furnace byexhausting the air from the cylinder 21, and as the plunger 25 islowered in such cylinder the pipe 30 is guided by means of the flanges14 of the grates 9, as well as by the metal shield 41 in the ash pit 17and the steadying block 32 fitting around the'cylinder 21. When thecrucible 36 is thus lowered into the fuel chamber 9 of the furnace A,the pr0tector'38 is then removed from the same by means of the handle 39on such cover, which will allow the coke or other fuel 8 to fall aroundsuch crucible for heating the same to the desired temperature. In caseswhere crucibles are made for this particular class of furnaces, thebottom of the same may be made to conform with the present style ofcrucible and have the graphite block attached thereto.

When the'metal in the crucible 36 has been heated to the desiredtemperature said crucible may be hoisted from the furnace in the beforedescribed manner, and the fuel which has become lodged around suchcrucible will fall away and settle between the pipe 30 and the walls 1,so that such furnace will always be supplied with a burning charge offuel. When heavy crucibles are used it is often inconvenient to handlethe same when taken out of the furnace, and to overcome this difficultyI use the form of block shown in Fig. 2 which consists of the upper andlower portions 42 and 42 and such portions are connected by the hingedjoint 43 to allow the crucible to be turned to one side when at the topof the furnace and the molten metal to be poured therefrom, while thepin 33 on said upper portion together with the lugs 44 thereon preventthe crucible from falling from such block during such operation. 7

It will thus be seen that with the use of my improved hoists forfurnaces larger crucibles may be used, as there is no lifting from thefurnace from above with the use of my improved method, while in caseswhere very wide crucibles are used in the ordinary furnace when thetongs are placed around the crucible, there is a tendency to crush thesame, so that when the crucible has been brought in contact with theatmosphere at the topof the furnace, a reaction takes place, and whenthe crucible is again lowered into the furnace it will crack, and it isthus rendered useless, while with my improved method of hoisting thecrucible from the furnace there is no pressure of any kind upon thesame, which will eliminate this very bad feature of the presentconstruction, and thus very greatly prolong the life of the crucible.

It is necessary in the ordinary form of crucible furnaces to partly fillthe fuel chamber with fuel in order to protect the crucible from thecold air from the ash pit, before placing the same within-the furnace,then filling fuel in around such crucible to fuse the metal within thesame. Before the crucible can be removed from the furnace the fuel mustburn down from around the same in order that the tongs may be applied tothe same for hoisting it from the furnace.

In my method the crucible may be removed from the furnace at any timedesired and the fuel will be pushed aside by the supporting block .28and held in this position by the pipe 30 and protector 38 until thecrucible has been lowered into the furnace and the protector removed,which is a very great advantage in that the tempera ture of the cruciblemay be kept constant and uniform by having fuel equally around all partsof the same, and also that the crucible may be removed at any time andthe desired temperature is attained, without waiting for the fuel toburn down from around the same.

In the ordinary form of crucible furnace at present employed it isnecessary to employ skilled labor for hoisting the crucibles from thefurnace, while with the use of my furnace ordinary laborers willsuffice.

Bythis method, cast iron or other molten metal maybe placed in thecrucible direct from the cupola or other furnace, on account of therapidity of placing the crucibles in the furnace, which is impracticablein the present furnace by reason of the metal cooling in the ladlesbefore it can be lowered. into the furnace.

Various modifications and changes in the design and construction of myimproved furnace may be made Without departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis- 1. A hoist for a crucible furnace comprising means for supportingthe crucible Within the furnace and for raising the same from suchfurnace, and a protective casing around said means and crucible.

2. A hoist for a crucible furnace comprising a block for fitting underthe crucible to support the same, means connected to said block forraising the crucible from the furnace, and a protective casing aroundsaid block, means and crucible.

3. A hoist for a crucible furnace comprising a block for fitting underthe crucible to support the same, means connected to said block forraising the crucible from the furnace, and a protective casing aroundsaid block, means and crucible and supported by said block and crucible.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for 4. A hoist for a cruciblefurnace comprising a block for fitting under the crucible to support thesame, means connected to said block for raising the crucible from thefurnace, a protective casing around said means and hung from said block,and a protective casing around said crucible and supported by the same.

5. A hoist for a crucible furnace comprising a block for fitting underthe crucible to support the same, means connected to said block forraising the crucible from the furnace, a protective casing around saidmeans and hung from said block, and a protective casing around saidcrucible and supported by the same, said last named casing having ahandle extending up from the same. 6. In combination, a cruciblefurnace, a crucible, means for inserting and removing such crucible fromsuch furnace, a casing surrounding the crucible during the insertion ofthe latter into the furnace, and means for thereafter removing suchcasing from about such crucible.

In testimony whereof, I, the said LoUIs HUBERT- JOHN DE BATS, havehereunto set my hand.

LOUIS HUBERT JOHN DE BATS.

Witnesses:

'I. B. HUMPHRIES, A. D. P. MILLER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

